Open Your Heart - The Men

Much has been made of The Men's lyrical change of tone on Open Your Heart, their second full-length release on Sacred Bones. Look no further than lead track "Turn It Around", in which singer-guitarist Nick Chiericozzi exclaims, "I want to see you when you try so hard...I want to be there when you turn it around!" Compared to his grim answer to the scenario posed in "If You Leave", the first track on their previous release Leave Home (in which he chants "Die, I would die"), Chiericozzi now sounds downright ecstatic. 

This brightening of mood permeates the rest of Open Your Heart, as The Men sound delighted to be making loud, gleefully rambunctious music together. They plow through their influences, unafraid of wearing them on their tattered sleeves. "Turn It Around" sounds like a B-side from The Foo Fighters classic first album (or even a lost track from lost band Hey Mercedes). The second track, "Animal", is a rollicking, dive bar tune that sounds like Bon Scott fronting The Replacements. Chiericozzi screams "I'm the animal!", which is contrasted with delicate female backing vocals cooing "He's the animaaaallllll".

The third track, "Oscillation", is a fine take on driving krautrock, propelled by a metronomic beat and looping, noodling lead guitars. "Please Don't Go Away", is breathless, scruffily melodic punk rock music with a noisy shoegaze sheen, while the title track is classic 70's British punk, and could pass for an alternate take on The Buzzcocks "Ever Fallen In Love".  This is music for people in motion.

The Men hurtle through genre after genre, and their interests aren't strictly limited to rock. The band has  mentioned in interviews that they are big fans of country music, and they put their own unique spin on the genre with the tracks "Country Song" (duh) and "Candy". The former is a beautiful, lilting instrumental featuring a somber, bluesy guitar lead that is perhaps the best hook on the album. The latter is a shambling, strumming ditty with wistful vocals that recalls early Wilco and even the quieter, gentler side of The Velvet Underground.

Toward the end of the album, The Men tackle 80's hardcore on "Cube", and prove they'd fit right in on SST Records during the days of Black Flag, Husker Du, and The Descendents. They follow that with the trippy "Presence", which is a scary good approximation of psych-rockers Spacemen 3. Closer "Ex-Dreams" sounds like a mashup of Dinosaur Jr. and Sonic Youth. Not satisfied, the band lobs a cherry on top of the whole mess with bonus track "A Minor", in which the cowbell is rightfully reintroduced as an essential element to rocking the f**k out.

And like that, The Men are done. Having ripped through genre after genre with reckless abandon, they have no more to prove. The listener is left to retrieve his ear drums from the floor and ice down the strained muscles in his neck. The band is shameless in aping their influences, and this is a good thing, because they want to share them with the world, to celebrate them and not just steal from them. It's also a good thing because they raise such a glorious ruckus. The Hold Steady would flee out to the parking lot to drink from their purses if they were on the same bill as The Men. 

Men, indeed.